*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

 

                          
 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge -if print is too small, you need glasses! ☺)

dear message from God, I receive these via Facebook (you never knew God was on Facebook?), yep He is.  At least if you add the page. ☺  Sometimes they are very poignant and other times just so-so.  The one I got on Labor Day was pretty apropo.  I was determined to get some de-junking done and this is what the message said this week: 

Recession is also a time of great opportunity. Time and time again success has its roots in failure, because failure knocks you down from top of the hill so you can then climb a mountain. Yes it's unsettling, yes it's scary. But this can be your greatest opportunity in life, - if you choose it. The recession has cleared the space of clutter, - think what have you always wanted to do but brushed aside from the top of your hill? Now is the time..

Sounds good to me!  Sometimes de-junking creates fear just in the fact that I'm afraid if I chuck it then I will regret it because I will NEED it a week later.  I have to overcome that fear and just ♫ LET IT GO! ♫  I didn't get as much done as I hoped, but it's a start.

dear august, where in the heck did you go?  Gone?  Really?  Already?  I do not like how fast time seems to be passing lately.  It feels like summer just barely arrived!  I guess I need to ♫ LET IT GO ♫ too!  I will, but NOT happily!  I REALLY hate to see summer end!

dear labor day, I honored you and labored all day long!  I mostly cleaned and that is labor to me!  Dave and Bryce had gone to the cabin and McKay spent a great deal of the time at football and so I was able to really focus and just dive in and laboriously labor.  I can't work as long and as hard as I used to (even when I had five little boys under my feet), but it sure feels good to have no interruptions and just go.

dear the way the other half spends labor day, yes...out in the gorgeous world fishing and enjoying nature!  These pictures are some from Dave and Bryce's little adventure to the cabin.  This is a photo of Murphy Lake.  It's beautiful. Why is it that all the best lakes are so hard to get to?

They also floated the snake river and caught some nice fish.

dear mufasa (aka mr. cat), you look the part of King of the Jungle.  Or at least the backyard. 

Sitting up there all high and mighty on your throne...

What a life.  Seriously...

dear long run for the week, since I am starting my marathon training taper this week, my longest run was to be an 8 miler scheduled for Saturday, but since I am running the Peach Days 10K that day, I went with my friend Robin and did an 8.5 run on Wednesday.  It's always so much better to run with a friend than alone when you are going long.  8.5 isn't technically considered a long run, but when you have had a bad running week, even 3 miles feels long!

We had a pretty good run and it was so nice to get that one in the books.  Now the farthest I have to run is 6 miles until D Day!  (BC Marathon!)

dear hill repeats, I have not been very faithful in doing you this training.  My last full marathon training, I never missed once.  I could tell too.  I didn't want to push it too much because I wanted to have something left in my tank for Saturday's race but I still ended up doing 13 hill repeats totalling 6 miles.  It felt good to have that checked off!  I have a great spot to do the repeats and this little stream nearby is just so beautiful.  The road was newly asphalted and so smooth too!  I also found a heart shaped rock AND a penny!  I hit the jackpot today!

dear new recipe for the week, this week I tried the One Skillet Chicken Pot Pie.  It's really biscuits on top, but it was REALLY good!  I substituted Red Lobster biscuits for the ones in the recipe and I thought they were a good switch.  Dave really loved this.  The night I made this, everyone was going their separate ways and just me and McKay sat down and ate together. 

This is definitely a repeat.  And it goes together really fast.

One Skillet Chicken Pot Pie Recipe:

• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups frozen vegetables, (corn, peas and carrots)
• 3 oz fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 tsp dried parsley

Cheesy Drop Biscuits: ( I substituted the Red Lobster Biscuits - just follow directions on box)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 oz fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup whole milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Melt butter in a (10-inch) oven safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until chicken is browned, about 2 minutes each side.
3. Add flour and whisk to combine. Slowly add chicken stock while whisking skillet. Whisk until well combined. Add in vegetables and cheese. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to medium. Allow mixture to come to a boil, stirring occasionally.
4. Meanwhile: In a large mixing bowl combine flour, cheese, baking powder, sugar and salt. Whisk to combine well. Add butter and milk. Stir to combine.
5. Drop biscuits by the rounded tablespoon full on top of pot pie. Place skillet on cookie sheet and then slide into the oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until biscuits are golden brown.
6. Sprinkle with fresh parsley, serve and enjoy.

dear rivalry football game, Box Elder vs Bear River.  The oldest high school football rivalry in the state.  Luckily we came out on top (even when the sprinklers turned on in the middle of the game) - not even that could stop us!  Our boys played well! 

McKay had a really good game and got in some great plays.  He is #40.

It was a great victory especially since we played it on their field!  The Golden Spike trophy is still ours!

dear peach days, I headed to the vendor booths on Friday morning with Robin and Jen and we had a lot of fun shopping and running into other friends that were also doing the same thing.  We also had lunch and it was just so refreshing to not have to stand in line for 30 minutes to get our food.  Friday morning is prime time for doing Peach Days!  It is just not crowded at all!  Once the children's parade starts in the afternoon, it is chaos from then on out!

 The best part for me was I found a vendor (two actually) that made the rings like the one I had of Tyson that I somehow lost.  I am pretty sure it came off with my glove when I was running the Ogden Marathon.  But I had another one made that is almost the exact replica!  I was so excited!

It says:  TYSON ♥ 4 EVER IN MY HEART

Such a blessing!  I had searched on line to find some where to buy one, but couldn't find one and then I find a vendor at Peach Days!  Thanks Tyson!

We saw another one that said: I love my Snow Boys and Robin suggested I get another one made that said: I LOVE MY WILD BOYS ♥.  And so I did!  I love it too!  I like the play on words.

I was really getting nervous about running the Peach Days 10K for some reason.  I think it was because I haven't been having really fast training runs and they have just seemed so labored and so I was in fear I would do poorly.  I really feared that because I knew if I did poorly it would affect my confidence going into the marathon.  Even though I have run this race like six or seven times, I was very nervous.  That's probably WHY I was!  It's a tough course.  They say it's the toughest 10K in the western US.  I just haven't been feeling like I can race really fast because I have been training so long and so I am racing on tired legs.  I went back and forth the night before and the morning of just unsure of it all.  I didn't feel well when I woke up and seriously almost bagged it. But then Jen sent me a good luck text and I ended up talking her into racing it too.  She had the same fears and just didn't want a personal worst like me.  She told me since I was feeling the same way but still doing it she was going to be brave and do it as well.  We were both committed at that point! hah  So we showed up and did it!  And we were both very grateful we did because we both ended up with  great runs!

This photo is before the race. Jen, me, and Robin.

I got another one of those messages from God the morning of and even though I totally don't believe there is some great and powerful way these come, and I know they could fit well into anyone's life, I do believe that no matter what they say, I can apply them to my life in some way for the better and so I usually take the time to read them.  Most of the time I just delete them, but once in a while they do make me think that maybe I should stop and ponder a bit more. Here's the other one:

Today, Jodi, we believe God wants you to know that...each day is a day in making. At any moment, you can make a different choice about what you are doing, how you are feeling, and what you are focusing on. It is never too late to start over again and make new choices.

I'm glad I chose to run even though I almost chose not to.

☺

Dave took these photos ↓ before the race.  You can tell I was still REALLY nervous and pretty worried I was going to bonk at some point.  Jen and I were giving each other pep talks.  I was showing him how I was feeling about running this race and telling him to put that camera away - but also feeling grateful he came and supported me.  He is amazing that way.  He is always there if he can be.  That really is a huge support.  It helped calm my nerves some too.

Here's a shot of some of my wardies that ran.  We are missing a couple, but it was fun to get a picture of this many.

On your mark... there were over 300 runners.
Get set... they were anxious to get started.

GO!

Finish line!  It was a tough race as always, but I didn't feel like I was going to die and so that made me happy.  I felt so much better than I did at the half marathon a couple weeks ago and that was even more of confidence boost.  I finished in 54:44 and so I was very happy! Last year I came in at 54:22.  Last year I got 1st in my age group, but this year even though my time was nearly identical, I only got 2nd.  The lady that got 1st ran it in 51 something.  She deserved it!  She took 1st in several of the age groups younger than ours as well.  I can't remember my PR for this course, but I think it's either 52 or 53 something.  I was just happy I ran it as fast as I did considering what I was expecting to happen. 

Getting our awards.  Robin took 3rd.

We weren't super thrilled with the shirts (we never are at this one) and Jen and I said something to a friend only to find out she is on the planning committee and she asked us if we would be willing to design them for next year.  We both agreed that we would and so we will see if we actually get to! 

After the awards, I went and found Dave's family and watched the parade (or what was left of it).  I counted four real floats this year!  Wow!  A record breaker!  Peach Days used to be known for it's parade, but lately it seems it's only business and advertising.  So those four floats were a very welcome sight!

I love living in this town because there is so much purple!  I know it's mainly because the high school colors are purple, but it sure makes it fun to see so much of it all the time! I need this car ↓☺

Here comes McKay with the football team!

He's sitting in the middle.

GO BEES!

The kids made out like bandits on the candy!  I got some myself too!

After the parade we went to Dave's parents for fresh peach pie and to celebrate Alexandra's birthday.  She is one!  And such a darling little thing!

Later that night we headed back with the Packer's for Peach Days food and to watch the concert.

We got the yummy Dutch Oven dinner and also some ribbon fries!  They were sooo good!  I love wandering the town during Peach Days because you always see so many people that you haven't seen in a long time.  So many peeps come back that grew up here and so many (too many) peeps come that we would prefer wouldn't.  The carnival draws a lot of riff raff. But it's still tradition and still fun!  Another year, another bushel of fun...

dear dave's parent's anniversary, we had his parents over for dinner on their anniversary since it was Sunday.  I decided to make the One Skillet Chicken Pot Pie again.  I probably should have stuck with a pot roast.  You just never know what time Dave is going to be home on Sunday and so I made the first part of the pot pie and waited to do the biscuits on top until right before we ate.  Big mistake.  The bottom part has to be hot before you put the biscuits on top or they won't cook on the bottom.  I learned that the hard way.  Why is it whenever I cook just for my family everything turns out perfectly, but if I invite guests over, there is always some fiasco? 

It finally got finished and it tasted good, but we had to start on the salad and other sides before we got to the main course.  Oh well.  Then we had fresh peaches in a glaze over a yummy sheet cake with cream cheese and whipped cream frosting.  It was so good.  There is nothing quite as refreshing as fresh peaches! I can't get enough of them!

It was like this only with a glaze.

dear last time, I found this post I had written about Firsts and Lasts and since that has been on my mind and since I wrote about it with McKay the past couple of weeks, I decided to put the link here to the post I wrote about six years ago on the topic HERE.

I found this poem and it sums it all up.  Oh, my breaking heart!

dear facebook challenge, this week I was supposed to list 10 books that have stayed with me in some way. I wasn't to take more than a few minutes and couldn't think too hard.  I added a few more because I have so many I couldn't choose just 10!  If I had more time, this list would be over 100.  I have read so many amazing books that have influenced me in some way.   Okay off the top of my head (besides the scriptures), here is my list:

1.     Power of  Positive Parenting by Glenn I. Latham (also his Christlike Parenting)

2.     The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

3.     While Others Slept by Ellis Shipp MD

4.     Gifts From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

5.     Confessions of an Organized Housewife by Deniece Schofield

6.     The Anguish and Adventures of Adversity by Cheryl Carson

7.     I Didn't Plan to Be a Witch by Linda Eyre

8.     The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

9.     Don't Sweat the Small Stuff  by Richard Carlson

10.    The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

  11.   Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox
12.   How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
13.   The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
14.   The Fire of the Covenant by Gerald Lund 
15.    A Joyful Mother of Children  by Linda Eyre
16.   Fire of the Covenant by Gerald Lund
17.   Work and the Glory by Gerald Lund
18.   Believe in Christ by Stephen Robinson
19.   I Don't Have to Make Everything All Better by Gary and Joy Lundberg
20.   Emma Smith a Mormon Enigma by Linda Newell

Okay, I'll stop.  But the longer I think about it, the more I come up with and so I'm sure I have left off some of the best ones that I just forgot about.  

dear elder wilding, you are such a great missionary! I am just so proud of you and for the great example you are setting for us all!  Seven more weeks!  But who's counting? ME THAT'S WHO!!!

dear gratitude, here is my weekly list of 10 things I was grateful for this week:

1. I am grateful I was able to sell my Eagle Concert tickets!  Whew!  I wasn't sure I was going to!  
2. I am grateful that I was able to have some time by myself (well kind of) to be able to focus and get some things done without interruptions.
3. I am glad I was able to finally watch the movie Heaven is For Real.  What a great story!  I cried.  It was such a great movie.  I pulled the book out that I started a while ago but never finished and so I'm excited to do that now.
4. I am grateful I had a pretty quiet week all things considered.
5. I'm so grateful I found a replacement Tyson ring just like the one I lost.
6. I'm grateful that even though I had a real crappy run on Tuesday, that I am able to run and that I am healthy enough to do so.
7. I'm grateful we get to attend football games again!  I love them so much!
8. I'm grateful for checking things off my list.
9. I am grateful that it's still warm outside!  I am not ready for fall and especially not for winter!
10. I'm grateful that I have been able to keep up with my blog for almost a solid year now after abandoning it for a couple years.